


heard melodies are sweet (but those unheard are sweeter)

by olivcrqueenx



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Superman AU, no beta we die like marvel superheroes, purely self indulgent, reporters au, secret identity shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25831066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivcrqueenx/pseuds/olivcrqueenx
Summary: when she catches him, daniel sousa stares back at her for a split second with wide, crazed eyes - and then he smiles.his smile is like the sun coming up over the horizon, and alarm bells in the back of her head all at once.or, a vaguely superman/lois lane inspired au, in which the city's beloved superhero is the one and only quake, and neither ace reporter daniel sousa nor his new partner daisy johnson know what they're in for.
Relationships: Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 29
Kudos: 117





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: wrote this incredibly self indulgent au in a soft drink induced state at 1 am before my molecular biology exam, so i hope u like it but if u hate it dw me too. 
> 
> title from ode to a grecian urn & other poems by john keats

To say that that she's in trouble is probably a gross understatement.

She doesn't know whether Coulson is going to murder her or demote her, but if there's anything she can take respite in, it's the reason behind her massive blunder (as it seems to everyone else). 

She let go of a story. Let the person at the center of the story disappear into thin air, and she's definitely going to get an earful about it. But of course, that's not what really happened. 

Yes, _technically_ , SHIELD Daily Reporter Daisy Johnson let a man who fell twenty stories down a building and cracked the floor instead of every bone in his body, walk away, even after she'd painstakingly found connections between him and the Centipede Project. Yes, it was the story of a career - of a lifetime, probably. Yes, no one was going to understand how she could let it all slip through her fingers. 

But in reality, the city's favourite superhero, Quake, had helped Mike Peterson get out of the spotlight and the crosshairs - had helped him get out of the city safe, to be with his family. So Daisy walks out of the elevator with some steel in her spine, so to speak, because that's worth more than any career making story. Worth more than whatever lost reputation she'd have to make up for. Worth it all. 

She walks out to the newsroom with her fingers tight around the strap of her bag. The floor is abuzz as always. Voices, typing, printing, phones ringing incessantly. Maybe it's all of that, that helps Daisy keep herself so concealed in a place so exposed. Because really, you would think a room full of reporters would be a little more observant. She's been working here for over a year while being Quake, and not one of them seems to have picked up on that small and earth shattering fact. 

There's a bit of a competition on that front, now. No one's managed to get an exclusive interview with Quake yet. It's the white whale of SHIELD Daily's investigative newsroom, the way that all they know about Quake is the name they gave her. 

Maybe one of these days she might let it end, Daisy thinks, walking over to her desk. it would be a good story for Yo-Yo to have, definitely a step up in her career, if Daisy decided to trust her with everything. Or maybe one of these days she'll stop being terrified of her name being associated with Quake, and just ask herself a bunch of questions and put it in print.

The thought makes her chuckle, an unbidden image of her talking to herself in the mirror flashing across her mind. 

'Something funny?' Her head snaps up from her desk. Coulson looks back at her with a raised eyebrow. 

'No sir.' She anticipates the questions, the confusion, the conversation, but it never comes. 

'There's someone I'd like you to meet. Daniel Sousa, Daisy Johnson, one of our best.' It's only then that she notices the new guy next to him, and accepts his outstretched hand. 

'Hi,' she watches as Coulson turns around and starts to walk away, 'sorry, excuse me.' 

She sidesteps the new guy and runs after him. 

'You're not mad?' 

'Why would I be mad?'

'...The Centipede story?' 

'You lost a lead - it happens. Whatever made that man go so far underground, you'd probably be best not digging to deep into it.' 

Daisy frowns at him as they enter his office, closing the door behind her. 

'Since when do _you_ stop me from digging too deep into it?' 

'Since we have a new story,' he moves around his desk and picks up a file, 'and I need you on it.' 

Daisy gives him a searching look before accepting the file in his outstretched hand. She flips it open. 

'There's no name.' 

'An old friend of mine. He's an insider from a certain tech company. Claims he's found a defect in mass production that we need to know about.'

Daisy flips the file shut, narrowing her eyes. 

'That sounds big... what's the catch?' 

'Does there have to be a catch?' 

She gives him a look. He meets her eyes, and smiles absently, looking behind her.   
Daisy half turns, following his gaze through the glass... to the new guy outside.  
He stands with a hands in his pocket, laughing at something Deke is saying, a whole group of reporters crowded around him. 

She turns back to Coulson. 'No.' 

'Daisy -' 

'No! I work better alone, you _know_ that -' 

'Do I?'

'....This is about the Centipede story.' She folds her arms. 'You _are_ mad.' 

'I'm not mad.' 

She tips her head to the side. 'No? Just disappointed?' 

He smiles at her, shaking his head. 'Let Sousa take the lead for this one. It's not always a bad thing to have a partner.' 

_It is for me_ , Daisy thinks, but doesn't say out loud. It takes her a minute to place the name. 

'Wait, Sousa? As in, the Isodyne story? Peggy Carter's old partner Sousa?' 

'That's the one.' 

Daisy turns around fully this time, watching May come up and meet Sousa, the whole newsroom looking at him. 

'Take the story, Daisy. Who knows? Maybe you might learn a thing or two. After all, he's one of the the best investigative reporters this paper's ever seen.' 

She watches Sousa walk across the floor to his desk. Just opposite hers. 

'Great,' she mutters. 'That's great.' 

\---

'Johnson.'

'Sousa.' 

'Do you need a brief on the source?' 

'I read the file.' 

Daisy stands over her desk just across from him, not looking up 

'...Alright then, let's go?' 

'Yep.' 

He lifts his jacket from the back of his chair with an amused look at her. 

'Sure you don't need to run off again?' 

She looks confused for a moment before remembering their meeting earlier. 

'Right. That was totally rude of me, sorry.' 

'No, it's alright.' He straightens the neck of his jacket as she grabs her bag. 'I heard about the story, sorry you lost your guy.' 

She waves a hand. 'It's fine. There's a rumor he was taken off to safety by Quake, so I can't really be mad.' 

'Right. _Quake._ ' 

She catches him smiling to himself, and frowns. 

'You don't like Quake?' 

'No, no, I do like her. You ever met her?' 

'Nope.' Daisy steps into the space between their desks, looking pointedly at the elevator. 'Can't say I have. You?' 

'Well, I've only been here a day.' 

'Right,' she asks, curiosity piqued, 'what brings SHIELD legend Daniel Sousa to the old stomping grounds?'

'Coulson's call, actually. I answered. ...He speaks very highly of you.' 

'As he should', Daisy shakes her head, 'after all those years I ran around fetching him and everyone else coffee.' 

'Ha. That might make you the best kind of reporter, you know.' 

'What, all the grunt work? Let me guess, you think it _builds character_.' 

'No,' he chuckles, shaking his head, 'it gets you off your ass and onto the pavement, doing the work for the story, unlike those damn Hydra News guys.' 

He notices Daisy grimace.

'You're familiar with them?' 

'Trust me... more than I would like to be.' 

'Shame.' He holds out a hand. 'After you?' 

She raises her eyebrows, but walks into the elevator first anyway, pushing the button. 

'You're not what I expected.' 

'...What did you expect?' 

'With your reputation? Someone insufferable.' 

'How am I doing so far?'

She shrugs. 'Sufferable.' 

He laughs, shaking his head. The elevator dings at their floor. 

Sousa takes out his phone as the building doors slide open ahead of them. 'The meeting place is just a couple blocks... this way -' he turns to the left '- that building over there.' It sticks out above the rest. 'Shouldn't be that hard to get to.' 

They're barely a few steps down when the top of the building explodes. 

'You _had_ to say it.'

* * *

Quake runs up the stairs of the building as it burns around her.

She had to ditch Sousa in the crowds - there was no time to come up with an excuse, and she just knows that this was no accident. Their source was supposed to be on the observation deck, top floor, and based on the way the building exploded, that floor was the origin. She'd used her powers to push herself as high up the side of the building as possible, and jumped in through an open window. 

The building is almost empty. A handful of people leave each floor through the emergency exits - but there's no sign of anyone coming from above. 

She reaches the top floor just as its burning door topples over the stair railing into the stairwell. Daisy reacts on instinct, using her powers to push the door against the wall below, quaking it until the fire dies out. 

A woman looks up at her from the stairs below. 'Thank you, Quake!'

She nods, turns, and runs through the doors, her hand up in front of her. Small vibrations work to clear the air in front of her, but there's too much smoke. She can barely see through the grey haze. 

Daisy closes her eyes, holding out her hand in each direction, before she gains her bearings.   
She clenches her fist, and on her right, the windows shatter. 

Slowly, the smoke begins to clear, revealing debris, fire, and ash in every direction - and a faint coughing. 

'Anyone here?'

Another cough. 

'Hold on, okay? i'm getting you out of here.' 

* * *

Hours later, back at the newsroom, Sousa leans against Coulson's door.

'But he's okay? And everyone's fine?' 

'Lots of minor injuries, but nothing serious. And he's fine,' Sousa pushes himself off the door frame and steps into the office, 'as far as they know. No burns or damage. But they need to keep him in observation for twenty four hours. To make sure the smoke inhalation isn't too serious.' 

'Well, thank god for that.'

'But, he's um......'

'Oh. Oh no, don't say it.' 

'He's not going to talk.' Sousa shakes his head. 'I'm sorry. This was planned, we know it, he knows it.' 

Coulson sighs deeply. 'They got to him.' 

'I'm really sorry.' 

'Don't be, it's not your fault. He got spooked.' 

'We should've seen it coming.' 

'Maybe. But now....' He sighs again. 'Sousa, I know you came all this way to try and save this ship from sinking, but.....' 

'What?' Sousa frowns. 'Already? This is just one story, we can find another one -' 

'It's been 'just one story' for months now.' He rounds his desk, shaking his head. 'SHIELD's already been overtaken by so many competitors in the last few months. And every time we get a big hit, we come up empty. If things keep going at this rate, we'll be sunk before the end of the month. In which case,' he looks up '....I should really start with the notices.' 

Sousa follows Coulson's gaze through the open door into the newsroom, full as ever. People run in every direction. The smell of coffee and fresh paper waft through the door. 

'No,' he shakes his head, folding his arms, 'there has to be _something_ we can do.'

'I... we're really on our last leg here. We don't have any edge over any other paper right now, and we haven't for a while.' 

Sousa gets to his feet, and paces around the side of the office, where the newspaper clippings of SHIELD Daily naming Quake decorate the wall. Grainy pictures of Quake are arranged all along the board, the bottom half of her face always covered, posture always turned away from the cameras. 

'What if... I could get you that Quake exclusive?'

Coulson scoffs, picking up some papers from his desk. 

'Good luck with that. I mean, of course if that happened, we'd be launched into a whole other -'

He turns around just in time to see Sousa opening the window. 

'Wait, what are you -' 

Sousa jumps. 

* * *

Daisy's barely a few streets away when she sees the figure fall out the window of _her_ office building.  
Her stomach drops.  
She splays out her fingers, and the world ripples behind her.  
She flies into the air.

When she catches him, Daniel Sousa stares back at her for a split second with wide, crazed eyes - and then he smiles. 

His smile is like the sun coming up over the horizon, and alarm bells in the back of her head all at once. She opens her mouth to ask him if he's alright, or what the _hell_ he was thinking, when he beats her to the punch. 

'Hi. I have some questions for you?' 

She blinks, and they land on an adjacent roof unceremoniously. 

She gets to her feet, dusting herself off. 'You - you _what?_ ' 

He sits up a few inches away. 'Just a few. Are you a mutant?' 

'No, I'm not a - why - wait -' 

Daisy looks up at the window lying open above. Coulson's office. Sousa's smile. 

' _Holy_ \- did you jump out of that window on _purpose_? To get an exclusive with me?' 

His smile becomes almost sheepish. 'It worked, didn't it?'

She gapes at him. 

'....Will you?'

'I'n sorry, will I what?'

'Just a few questions.'

She stares. 'You.... really just risked your life for a story?'

'Not just any story.' He looks at her carefully, like he's afraid he'll blink and she'll be gone. 'You.' 

'I'm sorry.' It feels like dangerous territory, whatever this is. 'I can't.' She backs away slowly. 

'Wait, please,' Sousa gets to his feet, 'please, I really just need your help.' 

'Yeah, planning on jumping out of another building?' 

'Closing down a newspaper, actually.' 

She freezes. ' _What?_ ' 

He squints against the sun and holds a hand up to shield his face. 

'The newspaper I work for, the SHIELD Daily, it's going under. A lot of people could lose their jobs. One interview from you could keep us going for at least a year. Even one answer, probably.' 

'It's what?' Daisy looks away. 'But why wouldn't he just.....' 

'Will you do it?' 

She looks back at him, hand still raised to block the sun, the light a halo around him. Her office, her home & family, behind him. 

'....Alright. But not here.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW I said I'd update in September, but life REALLY got in the way. With my apologies, this chapter, and another one forthcoming very soon (within a week most likely). 
> 
> that said, thank u guys so much for reading the first chapter! didn't at all expect people to vibe with my wholly self-indulgent superman au, but I'm so glad some people did. hope you like the update!

'No.'

'I didn't say anything.' Coulson stands over her desk, and Daisy pointedly ignores him.

'You were going to ask me to give Sousa another chance as a partner. I haven't changed my mind.'

'Didn't think you would. Here's your next story.' The papers drop on her desk with a soft flap, and she reaches for them.

'Shouldn't May be giving this to me - visiting foreign dignitary?'

'Yes.'

'This isn't really my wheelhouse...' seeing his eyebrows raise, she hastily adds, 'Sir.'

'Clearly you don't want to be in your wheelhouse at the moment.'

His gaze drifts somewhere over her head, and she follows it to Daniel Sousa stepping out of the elevator. She ducks her head behind the divider of her desk. Coulson notices, and opens his mouth to ask, but she gets there first.

'I'll take this story! It's all good, I needed something lowkey for a change. And I'll do whatever the newspaper needs, you know that.'

'I do.' Coulson gives her a vaguely concerned look, but doesn't press on, choosing to walk away. 'Get back to work.'

Daisy exhales deeply as he leaves, and starts debating in her head - the chances of Sousa recognising her if he sees her now. She's never been so close to someone she already knew, as Quake before, without them knowing both people were her. She had her face covered, sure, but - what if he sees her and it becomes obvious? She really should have taken Fitz up on his offer to make her a complete mask. She should have thought this through.

If she had time - she bitterly muses - she might have. He just went and jumped out a window, like a _certifiably crazy person_ , and she had to listen. Had to pay attention.

Sousa walks across the office, and she fights the urge to look up.

'Since when,' a voice behind her makes her jump, 'do you need something lowkey for a change?'

'Since I almost got blown up chasing the last story.'

'Oh, right,' Deke rests an arm on the back of her chair, looking at something on his camera screen. 'Speaking of, check these out -' he turns the screen towards her '- pictures of the explosion. Caught some of Quake on camera too.'

She reaches up and tilts the camera screen down, as Deke clicks through them one by one. Aerial shots, all from a helicopter - the top floor of the building in flames, firetrucks gathering below, a dark figure suspended in the air on one side of the building, just vague enough you couldn't see details, but just clear enough you could tell it was a person, and identify the familiar outline of the suit.

'Can't really see much.'

'Yeah, well, big surprise. If we could just get like, one high-def picture of her, we might be able to save the paper.'

' _Wait_ , you know about that?' Daisy drops her voice to a fierce whisper. ' _How_ do you know about that? Does everyone know except me?'

'No,' Deke shrugs, 'I mean, I don't know who knows or whatever, I just... picked up on stuff. Cutting expenses, dividing up stories to different departments,' he tips his head towards Sousa, standing talking to Yo-Yo about something, 'bringing in the big guns. Can only mean one thing, right?'

'Yeah - yeah, I just... can't imagine this place actually going down.'

'I mean it's not like it's a sure thing or anything. Specially not if big guns got the story he was hoping for by jumping out that window, I mean, I wish we had a picture of that -'

'Don't worry Shaw,' Sousa appears at his desk, opposite them, giving Daisy no time to hide, 'next time I decide to take a dive out a window, I'll call you first.'

'You can call me... Deke.... Daisy, what are you doing?'

'Nothing.' Shifting her work in the other direction so Sousa can't see her face, is what Daisy's doing, only it looks like she's trying to fold herself away into her chair. She straightens out, and just turns enough that Sousa can only see her side profile. 'Why, what are you doing?'

'Yeah... you're going to have to get used to this, you know,' Deke lifts his head to talk to Sousa.

'Get used to what?'

'Your desk is right there,' he gestures in his direction, 'you're about to get a crash course in Daisy.'

'Shut up,' Daisy grumbles. She's heard all of this before.

Deke rolls his eyes and waves his hands. 'She'll disappear on you at least every twenty minutes, show up with crazy stories every other week, refuse to work with you - or anyone - and act really really weird all of the time in between.'

'That is just -'

'Oh, Coulson's calling.'

Deke's gone before she can form a rebuttal, and she opens her mouth to call out after him, but thinks better of it, biting her lip, and shaking her head instead.

'Nope. Not going to say it.'

Deke walks off in the opposite direction to Coulson's office - the floor to ceiling windows that surround half the newsroom - and she knows he can feel the intensity of her glare from there.

'You know, the other stuff, I can understand, but why the working alone?'

'What?' She looks at Sousa, rolling up his sleeves, leaning forward on his desk, and then mentally chews herself out for looking. She was trying so hard not to. She'll just have to have some faith that he won't recognise her.

'Why work alone? Why not share a byline with someone? It's really not that bad.'

'Hah, I've shared a byline before.' Daisy busies herself flipping through Coulson's papers. 'It's not about that.'

'Then... what is it about?' She stills for a fraction of a second, flipping a page, and he notices. 'Of course, you don't have to tell me anything, I was just -'

'Let's just say...' she puts the papers down and meets his gaze for the first time since yesterday, on that roof, '...not everyone gets lucky enough to have a partner like Peggy Carter.'

'No...' he mutters thoughtfully, moving back in his chair, 'I suppose they don't.'

She nods, and turns back to try and actually read some of the papers in front of her, when a question crops up in her head. Risky to ask, but probably not entirely suspicious.

'Did you.... uh.... get anything out of Quake?'

'Oh, ah - no, unfortunately not.'

'Huh.... sorry.'

A shrug. 'You win some, you lose some.'

She gets up to go to the photocopier, and smiles to herself on the way there.

* * *

Dawn comes far too quickly for her liking, but probably far too slowly for his.

When Quakes walks onto the park bridge, Sousa is already there, notepad and pen in one hand, a practically ancient recorder in the other.

He notices her staring at the recorder - wondering how on earth he saves those audio files - and grins.

'I like doing things the old-fashioned way.'

'I um -' she can't say she's noticed, she realises. Quake can't have noticed. 'Did you tell anyone about this meeting?'

'Not a soul.'

'Good. And the other thing?'

'The other thing?'

'The other thing I asked you to do for this conversation to happen.'

He raises his hands in mock surrender. 'I promise. No more jumping out of buildings.'

'Good.' She puts her hands on the bridge railing, fingers tightening around it, a sudden nervousness overtaking her. 'So.... how does this work?'

'We go on the record whenever you're ready,' he raises the recorder a little, 'and I'll just ask you a few questions.'

'What,' she jokes, 'favourite color?'

He grins. 'A little larger scale than that. I'm pretty sure we can guess it's black or purple,' he gestures vaguely towards her super suit, and she shakes her head.

'Right.' Stupid jokes, she thinks, and suddenly understands over half the people she's interviewed in her life. Being on the other side of the story is being in a different world. 'I'm ready.'

'Sure?'

'As I'll ever be.' 

He nods, steps forward just a bit and places the recorder on the flat railing, turning it on with a click. 'Okay.... first question.... what I think's the first thing everyone's always wanted to know about Quake.'

Her mind flips blindly through all of the possibilities, all the curve ball questions, and for a second she's certain he'll ask for her real name.

Instead, he asks - 'Why do this?'

She blinks. 'Why do this?'

'Everything that you do. Rescuing people from burning buildings, kittens from trees - with the powers you have, you could do anything. Why do this?'

A weight lifts off her chest, leaving a lightness behind. 'That,' she smiles, 'I can answer.'

* * *

She has to hand it to him - he knows how to spin a story.

Even nearly a week after it was published in the afternoon edition of SHIELD Daily, the Quake exclusive is all anyone is talking about. There's even whispers about a prize nomination around the office, but Sousa shrugs all the praise off modestly.

'All I did was write the truth,' he's been saying to anyone who asks, Daisy watching more than half those conversations from her desk opposite his, 'it's Quake that made the story special.'

He sells himself painfully short, she thinks, reading through the story for the eleventh or twelfth time. She'd stumbled on a few questions, unsure how to answer, but he made all of her answers seem natural, intentional, admirable. His first and last paragraph frame the interview with a realness and humanity that she's can't help but be amazed by.

'You'd probably hate to admit it,' Jemma says, handing her gloves back to her, 'but I don't think anyone else could have done Quake nearly as much justice. Not Yo-Yo. Not even Peggy Carter. _Probably_ not even you.'

'No,' Daisy murmurs, putting aside her phone and taking the gloves, 'no, I can admit it.' She smiles at Jemma. 'Never thought I'd hear you call someone better than Peggy Carter though.'

'I said nothing of the sort. How are you feeling?'

'Better, thanks. Mack and Fitz around?'

'No, they went out looking for some - obscure car part or the other. I'm not entirely sure. Do you want me to pass on a message?'

'No,' Daisy hops off the hospital bed. 'I'll seem them later. Thanks, doc.'

'All the thanks I need is you keeping an eye out for any modifications those might need.'

'Yeah.... I love the color thing you did.' The places Jemma had added the modified microtechnology glowed a deep dark purple against the black.

'Yeah, I thought you might like that. It does look very cool.'

'Thanks. How's the lab?'

'Busy, actually. We've signed some contracts for some new bioinformatics projects - it's all very interesting. I'll send you the proofs. I do wish you'd stayed working with computers so you could be working here with us, but I understand you need to be where the news is....

'...so I can get to where I need to be first. Yeah.'

'How is the newsroom?'

'Honestly? I don't think I've ever seen it this busy. All of these new advertisers, new readers, new subscriptions. Coulson wants to keep it going as much as he can. I don't blame him.'

'You finally talked to him about it?'

'Yeah, we were like, two weeks from sinking.' 

'And now?' 

'And now we're not.' 

'Sounds like your interview saved a lot of people from losing their jobs.' Jemma smiles, going back to one of her work tables. Daisy follows. 'Not the typical Quake save, but still.'

'No, it wasn't me.' 

Jemma gives her a look. 

'It wasn't _just_ me. It was Sousa.' 

Jemma gives her a different kind of look.

'What?'

'Nothing. So is he leaving now?'

Daisy blinks. 'Leaving?'

'Well, he was brought to save the paper right? He did that? Shouldn't he be back over at home, covering Captain America with Peggy Carter?'

'No - I mean... I don't know. I guess so -'

She's about to go on when she checks her phone. 'Oh crap, I have to go. Thanks again!' 

'Be safe!' 

* * *

Daisy's so late getting back to work, she runs directly out of the elevator and almost straight into Sousa. 

'Woah!' 

'Oh - hey - sorry.' 

'It's all good. Where's the fire?' 

'The debriefing meeting - '

'Oh.' 

'Wait,' she says, ' _oh_ what?'

'...You didn't get the memo.' 

'Wait, what memo -' Daisy pulls put her phone and unlocks it, opening on the Quake story. She swipes it aside to reveal '- cancelled. That's just.... fantastic.' She drops her hand to her side and sighs. 

Sousa gives her an amused look, and she realises how close they're standing. She takes a subtle step back. '...What?' 

'Nothing, I - didn't mean to pry, but I saw you reading the Quake story.'

'Oh. Yeah, I was just... going through it.'

'You never told me what you thought.' 

'It's good.' 

'But.....?'

' _But_ ,' they walk side by aide towards their desks, 'I think you made Quake seem really..... larger than life. Like this great noble hero.' 

'And you disagree?' He folds his arms and leans against his desk. 

'I mean sorta,' she drops her bag on her desk and perches on the edge, 'she isn't like... crazy amazing or anything, she's probably just a regular person, like anyone here.'

Sousa just smiles at her, taking some papers from a passing reporter. 'Thanks - you've never met her, have you?'

'No,' Daisy looks away, a smile playing on her lips, 'can't say I have.' 

'Well I have,' Sousa rolls up the papers and gestures towards her with them, 'and I can tell you, Daisy Johnson, that Quake is just about as regular of a person as you are -' at her confused expression, he smiles again, '- which is not at all.' 

She laughs. 'You're saying I'm irregular?' 

'You _are_ irregular,' he drops down in his chair, 'just because you're you. Same as Quake. She's.... monumental and heroic because that's who she is, not because I wrote her that way.'

'Huh...'

He just keeps surprising her. With his presence. With his perspective.

'What's that?' She asks before she can think too hard about it.

'Oh,' he pulls on his coat, 'new lead on my new story.'

'Oh... already? Wait, you're sticking around?'

'Of course. Why wouldn't I be?'

'I just thought - I mean you - got the big story, right?'

'Oh, you didn't hear.' He shakes his head, reaching for his bag. 'Eager to get rid of me, I see.'

'What didn't I hear?'

'I'm on the major crime beat now.'

'That's.... cool.'

He laughs. 'Try not to sound too happy, Johnson.'

'I mean I guess I have to have you around blocking my view for a little longer.'

He raises his eyebrows, turns around, and then turns back. 'Your view of the copy editor's office?'

'What can I say, it's thrilling to see Piper at work - what's this new story, by the way?'

He laughs. 'Nice try. You'll see it when I submit it to the assignment editor, like everyone else,' with a wave, he walks off to the elevators, calling out behind him, 'have a good weekend!'

'Yeah... bye.'

Daisy sighs, and moves to turn on her desktop, and get to work. Just as the screen flickers on, sirens begin to blare outside, somewhere below. She raises her head towards the windows, looking out over the sunset sky, as the pink and yellow dissolve into darker shades, painting her desk with sunlight.

Quake pulls open her bag, and her newly modified gloves look back at her.

* * *

It might be a little cliche, but Daisy loves the city's infinite number of rooftops.

Always has.

They feel like a world separate from the world below. Places that usually only she - and a handful of stray pigeons - tend to frequent. And no one looks for her up here. A place not even the most dedicated Quake-chasers (unfortunately, a very real thing) would think to track her to.

She's caught two fugitives in a high speed police chase - and even one kitten from a tree - but it's a quiet night. The SHIELD Daily updates come slow and mostly boring. Even social media doesn't seem to picking up on anything. She fiddles with a makeshift police radio Mack built for her, wondering if city crime levels are actually, _finally_ , going down.

Of course, she thinks too soon. Gunshots fire, somewhere to her left. Her eyes widen. She leaps to her feet, and then into the sky.

Quake lands on the rooftop adjacent to the skyscraper the shots are coming from - and barely just in time. The building is under construction, the floors all open.

Someone plummets to the ground from the fifteenth story window. Quake throws her hands out towards the ground and jumps.

Her momentum, and the vibrations, carry her across the street. Carry her into the path of the figure, and then both of them into one of the lower floors of the building. They hit the concrete just as she realises who she's caught.

Sousa.

He looks at her with the same wide eyes she's seen before, and she's about to start berating him, because _what the actual hell_ , when she realises why he isn't saying anything.

A bloodstain covers the front of his shirt, and rapidly grows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can come yell at me about this fic over on tumblr, @olivcrqueenx! 
> 
> I'm also always looking for beta readers, so if you want to be one, you can dm me there as well!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the third and last chapter turned out to be sooo long, I split it into four parts - so there's going to be six chapters now instead of three! the next chapter will be up sometime this week, thank you guys so much for reading and bookmarking and subscribing!

Daisy paces outside the lab restlessly, tugging at her gloves, trying not to relive the memories of the last hour. 

Sousa, bleeding in her hands in the middle of that building. The look on Jemma's face when she brought him here.   
His weak whisper just before Jemma asked her to leave the room.  
_I'm sorry._  


Her hands had trembled ceaselessly when she was trying to wash away the blood. 

The door beside her opens, and she spins around faster than lightning. Jemma closes the door behind her slowly, looking tired. 

'Daisy -'

'Don't, he might hear - is he - is he okay?' 

'Yes, he probably will be. The first bullet went straight through, and the other two were superficial wounds. I've done what I can with what we have, but it's crude, Daisy. He lost quite a bit of blood, you really should have taken him to a real hospital.'

'He said the people who are after him could be waiting to finish the job. I didn't know who to trust...'

Jemma sighs deeply, and sinks into the chair closest to the door. Daisy sits in the one beside hers and puts an arm around her. 

'I'm sorry.'

'No, I understand. It's probably for the best you came here, you saved his life. Luckily one of our projects involves blood testing, so we can give him at least some blood transfusion. Fitz is setting it up now. But you really need to take him -' 

'To a real hospital, I know. I'm hoping in a few hours they'll assume he's.... dead, or something, and stop checking hospitals, and then we can get him treated.'

Jemma nods, and yawns softly. Daisy gives her a soft look. 

'Hey, thank you. You're the one who saved his life, you know.'

'Team effort.' Jemma leans against her for a moment, then gets to her feet. 'Come on, you can see him now.' 

Daisy follows her through the door, into the white room.

Sousa lies in the white bed, eyes closed. 

It's unnerving to see him so still. Daisy walks over, a little closer, and the pale pallor of his face comes into notice. 

_I'm sorry._

She looks away.

The room around him is a makeshift hospital room the lab uses for patient research, and has most of the things that a regular hospital room has.   
Except for the research equipment nearby, and a pacing Fitz, holding a tablet in his hand. 

'Hey.'

'Hey,' Fitz notices her for the first time, 'you wouldn't happen to know his blood type, would you? We're running a little low on O.'

'No, sorry.'

'I can do a quick test,' Jemma suggests, 'and find out.' 

'Wait -' Daisy notices his coat on a table nearly, and reaches for it. She rummages through the pockets, until she feels for his wallet. She pulls it put, and flips through it. ID card. Credit card. And, ' - here.' 

Jemma walks over and takes the card from her outstretched hand. 'Ah. A medical ID. It's B, Fitz.' She looks at Daisy. 'How did you know that would be there?'

Daisy shrugs. 'Lucky guess.' Educated guess. She'd heard him mention something about it just two or three days back. 

There's a groan from behind her, She whips around. Sousa stirs, opening his eyes slowly. 

'Where....' his voice croaks from lack of use, 'where am I? What happened?' 

Jemma motions for her to stay back but she moves forward instead, putting her mask up.

'You're safe.' 

'Quake....?'

'What do you remember?' 

He looks at her with half lidded eyes, blinking against the light, and frowns. 

'I remember....' 

He starts to notice the room around him. The beeping heart monitor, the hospital bed, the lab tables nearby. 

'Where am I?' He moves to get up, and then falls back, grunting with pain. 

'Don't try to get up, Sousa. You were shot three times.' 

'Daniel,' he murmurs, looking around, 'you can... call me Daniel. I remember.' 

'You remember why they were shooting at you?' Daisy asks. 

'Yeah... my story. Where did you bring me?'

'To people I trust. Dr Simmons,' Jemma raises a hand, and then Fitz does, 'and Fitz. What's the story?' 

'Thank you, doctors..... Quake.... it's.... not important.' 

'Is it? I just caught you from falling fifteen stories, something you actually _told_ me wouldn't happen again.' 

'This wasn't exactly....' he sighs and closes his eyes, '...my choice. Sorry. You can't help me here.'

Jemma catches Daisy's arm. 'Let him rest, Da - Quake. We need to prepare him for the blood, and then for transfer to a hospital.' 

'Yeah,' Daisy gives Sousa, asleep again, a parting frown, 'yeah, I'll go figure that out.' 

Daisy leaves the room, and Jemma sighs, turning to Fitz. 

'This is a terrible idea.' 

'Yeah.' Fitz shakes his head. 'Not going to end well, will it?' 

'No,' Jemma walks over to Sousa's bedside. 'No, I don't think it will.' 

* * *

_Sorry_ , Sousa had said again, _you can't help me here_. 

Maybe Quake can't, Daisy thinks, walking down a winding hospital hallway, maybe Daisy Johnson can. 

She spots Coulson in front of the hospital room a few feet away, and he notices her. 

'Hey,' she greets him with a hug, 'what happened?' 

'Got a call from the hospital this morning,' he gestures to the door of the room, 'apparently Quake dropped Sousa off with three bullet wounds and a lot of lost blood. Looks like she fixed him up a little herself before she brought him here.'

'Oh... maybe she's a doctor?'

He looks at her thoughtfully. 'Hmm, could be. Nice of you to drop by.' 

'Yeah, just wanted to see if he was up and about.' 

'He's awake. Deke and a couple of others came by earlier too.' 

'You stuck around?' 

Coulson checks his watch. 'I probably should be leaving.' 

'See you back at the office?' 

'Later,' he smiles warmly, 'keep him company for a bit.' 

'Yes, sir. See you for dinner?' 

He walks off with a nod and a wave, and Daisy reaches for the door. 

Sousa sits up in the hospital bed, reading the SHIELD Daily paper. 

'Why am I not surprised you read the paper version and not the app like everyone else?' 

He looks up and chuckles. 

'My phone's not exactly the app supporting type.'

'What,' Daisy laughs, 'do you have a flip phone?' 

Sousa looks at her for a second, and turns the paper over without saying anything. 

'Oh my god, you have a flip phone, don't you?' 

He shakes his head with a smile. 'No comment.' 

'Ahah. How are you feeling?' 

'Like I got shot three times.' 

'What did the doctors say?' 

'They - patched up my wounds pretty well. Don't hurt that much. I'll live. Thanks for stopping by.' 

'Hah,' Daisy smiles, 'had to make sure the view from my desk changed by choice, not force.' 

He smiles to himself, folding the paper up. 

She drops her bag, and takes a chair by the window. 'Was this about your new story?'

He sighs. 'It's like they say, you get shot or kidnapped, you're usually on the right track.' 

'I've never heard anyone say that.' 

He smiles. 'Well, you have now.'

'What, you won't,' she frowns, 'slow down, or anything? Let it go for a bit? They did... you know, shoot you. To _kill_ you.' 

'Yeah, so I got real close. Got to keep at it once I'm out of here.' 

'You could always hand it over to someone.'

He laughs, and then coughs a little. 'If you're trying to scoop me, Johnson, you can do better.' 

'I'm just saying. Can't be a lot of stories out there worth this.' She gestures to the hospital bed. 

'This one is.' 

Daisy gives him an inquisitive look, trying not to push too hard. 

'.......We're the good guys, Sousa. You can trust me.'

'... I know.' He sighs deeply and puts the paper aside. 'You can't tell Coulson about this. Or anyone.' 

'I won't - but weren't you assigned this story?' 

'I was assigned the story about that elevator that fell last week.' 

Daisy blinks. 'The elevator in that five star hotel? The one with that visiting prime minister who got injured? I was there.' 

'Yeah, but you didn't get the story.' 

'No,' she admits, 'I was with the other reporters in the press conference hall. Hydra reported the story. We didn't even know about it until after he'd been taken to the hospital. But that was - how do you get....' 

'How do I get shot over a falling elevator?'

'Well.... yeah.' 

'Because it wasn't an accident.' 

'Wait, really? Are you sure?' 

'I had my suspicions. Modern elevators don't often fall by accident. So I,' he waved his hand, 'went down the elevator shaft, and there they were. Cut weight lines.'

'Wh - that's impossible. Hydra got the story. I hate them, but they're thorough. Wouldn't it be mentioned in their papers?' Sousa nods, and Daisy pieces it together. '.....Why wasn't it?'

'That's what I was trying to figure out.' 

'So wait, what were you doing in that building construction site?' 

He frowns. '...How did you know about that?' 

'Oh - Coulson told me.' 

'....Right. I was going to look at the same elevator being installed there. Checking if the wires could have been a plant, but they couldn't have been. That's when those guys showed up, started firing.' 

'Yeah.... you've got some pretty crazy luck, being saved by Quake like that.' 

'Trust me,' he sighs, looking wistfully out the window, 'I know.' 

There's a small moment of silence, and she wonders if he's thinking about her - about Quake. No other person has ever been so close to Quake so often without knowing her.   
It would be stressing her out if it wasn't so nice.   
Not last night, of course, but - before. The interview. The before and after. It was all very hard to describe. 

'So...' she says thoughtfully, and he raises his head, 'so you think someone.... tried to kill the prime minister?' 

He frowns. 'No, actually. I - don't think this is about him. I think there's something different going on here, and I think... Hydra is involved somehow.' 

That's the last straw for her. 

'.... Listen,' she gets to her feet, and paces slowly around the hospital bed, 'I get that you want to keep this story, I do, but they almost killed you. Are you sure that you don't want to ask someone else to take over for now?' 

Sousa looks at her for a long, silent moment. She looks away first. 

'I think I've spent enough time with you to know this isn't about stealing my story.' 

'It's not.' 

'Johnson, if you're concerned, I can be careful. And if you're interested in the story, you're welcome to join me on it. But I'm seeing this through. I have a hunch about what's going on, and clearly I'm close enough that someone is getting worried.' His hand rubs his shoulder softly, almost unconsciously. 

'And I get it. But I can help you.'

'Then we can write this story together.'

'I work better alone.'

'You can have the byline.'

' _It's not about the byline._ I don't do partners.' 

'Then no dice.' He gave her a decided look. 'I'll go to bat for this story if I have to. And I'm not going to put you out there in the crossfire in my place.' 

'I can take care of myself.' 

'I know. But I'd rather not push you into the direct line of fire on your own. Together, or not at all.' 

A frustrated laugh escapes her. 'Are you always this stubborn?' 

He shrugs, going back to his paper. 'It's your choice, Johnson. Can you pass me the sports section?'

* * *

She's still thinking about it, hours later. 

'You know, I think you might be arranging those carrots into a cat shape.' 

'Huh?' Daisy snaps up from her food, and Coulson gives her a look. 

The diner's lights are on, but they're sitting close enough to the door that the neon open sign at the window is what makes it bright enough to see.   
It washes everything in a soft tinge of red. 

'What's on your mind?' 

'Nothing. Just...' she looks at him, and sighs 'I was just trying to get Sousa to give up this story. I just don't understand how he can be so insistent!' 

Coulson's expression becomes amused. 'Well,' he reaches for his drink, 'you know what they say about kettles and pots.' 

'This is not the same thing. It literally almost got him killed.' 

One of the diner waitresses comes up to them with a jug of ice tea. 'Refill?' 

Coulson holds out his glass with a smile. 'Thank you - Daisy, it's his story. He knows what he's risking. And I've already requested a police detail for him. He's not in it alone.' 

'Coulson.' She knows he won't like what she's going to say, but she tells him anyway. She always tells him. Everything.   
Almost everything. 

'It's about Hydra.' 

His smile fades. He shifts back in his chair. 

'You know I'm basically an expert on their bullshit!' 

'If this is about - '

'No,' Daisy cuts him off, 'this is not about Ward.' 

He gives her a skeptical look. 'You're too close to the story already. If you're insisting, I'll try and push Sousa to give his story over to someone, but not you.' 

'I can help.' 

'Daisy...' 

'I can! And he said... he said they might be involved in something big, and something bad. He says either I join him on this story or leave him alone.' 

'That might not be such a bad idea.' 

'Coulson.' 

'Yeah, I know the drill. You work better alone. But if you're this invested in this story, Daisy, then there's nothing stopping you from joining him.' He reaches for his fork and knife. 'We both know Hydra's been into some bad stuff over the years. And there's a reason I never let you go after them on your own. But if Daniel Sousa has _proof_ , and is working on this, then we have a better shot of actually making something stick than we've had in years.' 

Daisy sighs, and looks away. 'You're never letting go of this partner thing, are you?' His smile is warm and familiar, and knowing. 'And you say I'm the kettle.' She can't help but smile.

She doesn't tell him often enough how lucky she is to have him, she thinks. One summer college internship, one meeting with him, had given her everything. A career. A purpose. Family. 

Of course, certain things slip through the cracks. Certain supersuit things.  
Certain supersuit things that, she deeply suspects, he might already know. 

She sighs, and her eyes pass vaguely over her plate.   
'Huh,' she tips her head, 'you might be right about the cat thing.' 

* * *

Daisy hesitates at the hospital room door, wondering if she should knock, when it opens first. A nurse storms out, almost bumping into Daisy. The door swings open behind her, and Daisy watches Sousa, out of bed and normally dressed, reach for his coat. 

'Whoa,' she takes a tentative step into the room, 'shouldn't you be resting?'

'It's been three days.'

'I'm pretty sure the doctor said three _weeks_ of bed rest.' 

'I'll be careful.' 

'Why do I doubt that?' 

He chuckles, grabbing his things from around the room. 

'So what's the plan, you're just gonna go out there, _hit the street_ , or whatever it is they call it, and hope to find something? Take your ideas as they come?' 

'It may seem old-fashioned,' he pulls his bag up to his shoulder, and walks over to the door, 'but it's never failed me before.'

'Yeah, well,' Daisy reaches into her bag, 'I can do you one better.' She holds up a blue flash drive, and Sousa stops in his tracks. 

'What's that?' 

'Surveillance tapes for the construction site you went to.' 

He stares for a moment, and then laughs, reaching for the drive. 

She moves it back, out of his reach. 'This is temporary.' 

'Right.' 

He reaches for it again, but she pulls it back further. 'On my conditions.'

'Of course.' 

She finally hands over the drive, and he smiles. She remembers the first time Quake met him. 

'Thank you,' he says, sincere and full of hope.

'Yeah, yeah,' she shakes her head, 'just keep up.' 

'Uh,' he looks behind her, 'might have to be quick about that, the nurse is coming back.' 

Daisy follows his gaze to the hallway. The nurse returns with two doctors, looking to stop her runaway patient. 

She laughs. 'Come on,' she nods for him to follow, 'I know the back way out.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! you can come yell at me about this fic over on tumblr, @olivcrqueenx!
> 
> I'm also always looking for beta readers, so if you want to be one, you can dm me there as well!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unfortunately my next update isnt guaranteed within a week, more likely itll be within two weeks, as my med exams are coming up, so its a good thing this chapter came out SO long, lol, hope you guys like it!!
> 
> this whole chapter was written while listening to this; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy3DSjglIq0 and you guys should definitely listen to it while reading the first part if you can!

'You really think we'll find something here?'

Sousa folds his arms and rests his head against the car window. 'We have to try.' 

'It's been four hours. Shouldn't something have happened by now?' 

'Hmmm. The sun's just gone down.' 

'Riiight. All the shady things probably happen at night.' 

Daisy's idea had panned out. Sousa recognized his attackers, and over the week, they managed to use traffic camera footage to track the unlisted car to where it came from. 

A laundromat. 

'That's kind of anticlimactic,' Sousa had said, sitting at his desk, pausing the video at the flickering sign.

'Nooo, this is where it gets real,' Daisy had grinned, 'you know what they say. The bigger the story, the more unassuming it looks.' 

'I've never heard anyone say that.' 

She'd patted his shoulder before taking off. 'Well, you have now.' 

Daisy watches the owner come out of the building, and stop to lock the door. 

'I hope whatever happens, happens now, I'm getting kind of hungry.' 

Sousa startles in the seat next to her, and she realises he had dozed off. 

'If you want something,' his voice is slow and sleepy, 'I can take a minute and go get it.' 

'Oh, no,' she replies softly, 'no, it's okay, I'm good.' 

He blinks, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. 'Sure?' 

'Yeah, just - we'll keep watching.' 

'Oh... okay.' 

It only takes a few minutes for him to nod off again, head against the window, arms still folded. 

_That can't be comfortable,_ she thinks when she looks over at him, but she lets him sleep. 

It's another two hours before something actually happens. Daisy's just thinking about ordering pizza to the car or taking a bit of a walk down the street to stretch her legs, when her attention is pulled away.   
A light goes on inside of the laundromat. 

Daisy frowns. 'The hell....' 

She looks closer. Two men walk around inside. Their outlines visible in the faint light of a single bulb, falling through the windows. 

One of them holds up a rifle. Daisy gasps softly and turns to wake Sousa - but she hesitates. 

He's looked a little pale, a little drawn, all day. Technically, he should still be on bed rest, but he'd insisted on coming out here, on not letting her run into danger alone.   
But he needs rest, and she's hesitant to wake him, and more - she doesn't see what the two of them could possibly do other than watch. 

Quake could do more. 

'Sorry,' she whispers, and opens the door with a soft click. Sousa shifts a little behind her, but doesn't wake. Not when she slips out. Not even when the door clicks closed behind her. 

She around the back, and opens the trunk of her car slowly. 

Her suit lies folded in the middle of her gear, and the street lights reflect across the purple. 

Quake sneaks in around the back leaving a slew of shattered locks behind her, and they never see her coming. She has her arm around one man's throat before he even notices her. The second one turns and yells. He pulls up the rifle and fires blindly over the washing machines, in the half darkness. One wave of her hand knocks all the bullets aside. 

'Wow,' she focuses on the man in her grip, 'your friend here was real eager to kill you just now, huh?' 

He struggles, her arm tight against his throat. 

'I am only going to ask you once. Who are you working for?' She loosens her arm. 

'I'm not talking t -' She tightens it again, and reaches for his hand. 

'I'm not a fan of hurting people, but you'll probably be just fine without a finger or two, right?' 

The other man lunges, thinking she's distracted, but she blasts him back - all the way to the end of the shop, right through the window. The first man elbows her in an attempt to get free, but she dodges and punches back. He hits the ground, hard. She puts a foot on his chest, and hovers her hand directly over his face. His eyes widen in fear. 

'You have to realise the mistake you've just made.' 

'You're crazy!' 

'I know you shot that reporter. The police are going to go down on you hard for attempted murder. Is it worth the loyalty?' 

He gulps. 

'A name. And I'll talk to the police.' 

'Look - look - it wasn't personal alright! We don't know anything! Some guy wanted us to take someone out for him! It's the truth! Never gave a name, we never asked!' 

'Location or contact, now.' 

'Swordfish! The place is called! It's an old timey bar of some kind, guy was a regular!' 

She pulls her foot back. 'See, now that wasn't so hard.' 

The guy trembles on the floor, and sirens sound in the distance. Quake types a quick message on her communication device. _Mack, need to transfer some funds to a laundromat owner._ The guy tries to get to his feet, but one wave of her hand pushes him back down with a thud. 

'That reporter really does have some connection to you.' 

Her head snaps up. 'Excuse me?' 

'The guy said that you might come,' he laughs, 'thought he just meant to save him, not after us.' 

A rattling sound comes from somewhere.  
Daisy spots the exact second the henchman realises that it's sound of the broken glass on the tiled floor. Vibrating. 

'You tell every one of your little criminal friends that if they come after Daniel Sousa or any SHIELD reporter again, I will - '

'Quake?' 

Daisy looks up. Sousa looks back at her from beyond the window, mouth open, eyes wide, taking in the scene.

'Call the police,' she says.

'Already did - is Daisy alright? My partner - I was in the car - she was already gone -' 

She blinks. 'Your friend's probably fine -' Sirens sound outside the store, and Quake steps back. 'I have to go.' 

She knows he calls out to stop her, that the police will want to talk to Quake, but they're out of luck.  
Daisy leaves the building fast, and a minute later, she runs around the corner down the street in her regular clothes. The police march the men out of the door in cuffs, and Sousa gives his statement in the corner. Her phone pings. 

Mack: _Don't you have a washing machine?_

She hurriedly types back. 

Daisy: _damages for a window_

The reply is instant. 

Mack: _Of course it is._

'Johnson,' Sousa spots her just as she raises her head. He runs towards her, leaving a confused officer behind. 'Are you alright? I looked for you everywhere, I thought you might have been -' 

'I'm fine, I was just - down the street thinking about getting something, and I heard the commotion - are you okay?' 

'I'm - yeah, they got them. She got them. Quake.' 

'Listen, I'm so sorry for leaving my watch like that -' 

'No,' he sighs, 'no, it's fine, I'm just glad you're alright.' 

She nods slowly, catching her breath. 'Is that -' she nods towards the police car, 'is that them?' 

'The guys who shot me? Yeah, that's them. Just... wish Quake had stuck around long enough for me to thank her.' 

_You shouldn't be thanking her_ , Daisy thinks.

He'd said _I'm sorry_ , when she saved him the second time, but she's the one who should be saying it now. If there was a rumour before, that Quake would rescue the reporter who interviewed her, it was going to be harder than fact now. If there was a target on his back before, she's all but gone and painted it bright red.

'Come on,' Sousa says, pulling her out of her thoughts with a soft hand on her arm, 'we're going home.'

* * *

'Remind me how you got this tip?' 

'The two guys from the laundromat. They talked.' 

'They didn't talk to the police. They didn't say a thing to anyone else. You were in there for two minutes, and you came out with this.' 

'Yes. And?' 

Sousa shakes his head, walking down the stairs towards the stone door. It's a moonless night.   
A street lamp flickers nearby, and wind rustles through the street, full of tall stone buildings on either side. 

'Impressive.'

'Of course,' she smiles at him as they stop in front of the door. 'Shall we?' 

He holds an arm out, and she rolls her eyes, but hooks hers through it anyway. 

'You look lovely, by the way.' 

She smiles. 'Not so bad yourself.'

The door opens in front of them, and the world is awash with warm light, sound and colour. Loud, soulful jazz reverberates through the whole place - she can feel the vibrations - and even the stone walls seem to buzz with music. Tables are arranged around the centre, in front of a small stage where the musicians play. 

Sousa wanders away a bit, and Daisy goes in the opposite direction, keeping an eye around her.   
Her gaze lands on a man eating alone in the corner, clearly disinterested in the surroundings. 

'My brother hates these things.' A voice speaks up behind her, and she half turns to see a short haired man, drink in one hand. 'If Nathaniel had his way, he'd never come at all.'

'Nathaniel,' she thinks aloud. 'That wouldn't happen to be Nathaniel Malick, would it? So that would make you -' 

'Gideon.' His voice is prideful. 'Guilty as charged. You've heard of me. That can't be a bad thing.' 

'Everyone knows you're in line to be the next big thing at Hydra Corp.'

'...To be clear, it's not nepotism. Definitely earned my spot.' 

'Oh, yeah. Self-made. You must hear all the city's secrets from your dad.' 

He shrugs. 'Some. Not really lately. I'm in the loop enough. But... enough about me.'

Crap. Daisy bites her lip. 'Yeah, I actually have to get going, so -' 

She moves to turn around, but he follows the motion.

'You could start by telling me your name.'

She's thinking about every way May has ever taught her to get a guy to leave her alone, when she hears a voice just behind her. 

'Sweetheart. Who's your new friend?'

She blinks, and turns back. Sousa looks directly at Malick as he walks up beside her, and Daisy smiles, playing along.

'Gideon Malick. Gideon, this is -'

'Her fiance. Honey, I think we need to go.'

Daisy smiles at Gideon. 'Excuse us.' She walks ahead, Sousa following a minute later, and turns to him the second they're out of earshot. 

'Malick?' He asks. 'As in, owner of the all of Hydra, news, enterprises and everything, Malick?'

'Don't really know that many other Malicks.' 

She sits down by the bar. Sousa frowns and takes a seat beside her. The music fades out momentarily. 

'You really think it goes that high up? And that they'd be so bold as to hire a hit on me that can be directly traced from here?'

'Honestly? Definitely think they're that bold.'

Sousa looks thoughtful. 

'But are they that stupid?' She sighs. 'I don't know.'

'Welcome,' the man behind the bar speaks almost mechanically, 'What can I get you?'

'Water, please.' Sousa shifts in his seat, looking out into the room with one elbow resting on the bar. 

'Hey,' Daisy nods towards the back area, 'who's the private party for?' 

'As I understand, there is a bit of a gathering by Mr. Malick tonight.' 

'Hmm, I'll take a drink,' she turns around in her chair, raising her eyebrows at Sousa, 'so we're keeping an eye out for the head of the snake himself. Or anyone close enough who might know anything about the news story.'

'Right.' 

The music starts up again, a singer joining the musicians, and Sousa perks up and laughs.

She gives him a puzzled look. 'What?'

'Nothing,' he shakes his head softly, 'I just - I love this song.' 

It's deep, rolling jazz, with a woman's clear voice cutting through. 

'Why am I not surprised,' she muses, 'even your taste in music is old-fashioned.'

'It may be old-fashioned,' he says, between hummed notes, 'but it's a beautiful song.' 

_'How deep is the ocean......'_

She might have to agree. The woman's voice floats over them in highs and lows, and his eyes are closed, mouthing the words as they're sung. It takes her a minute to realise she's staring. Blinking, Daisy takes a deep breath and looks away, back out into the bar - and something catches her attention. 

'Sousa, look.' 

He opens his eyes.   
'Oh,' he murmurs, 'maybe we're on the right track after all.' 

Fifteen men and women, various, famous reporters and managers from the rival newspaper, enter the bar - and move directly towards the back room. 

* * *

'Hey,' Daisy says, not looking up from her desktop screen, can you pass me the paper on -' 

A paper is held out to her from across her desk. 

'That one, thanks.' 

'You're welcome - do you have the pictures of -'

'Here,' Daisy stacks them up against the table and holds them out. 

Sousa gets up from his seat for a second to take them, before sitting back down.   
There's a few minutes of silence in the otherwise empty office, punctuated only by furious typing from Daisy's side and pen scribbling from Sousa's, before a shadow falls over them.

'No rest for wicked?' 

Both of them look up at the same time. Coulson just grins, checking his watch. 

'I thought you two were hitting the town tonight, looking for your guy.' 

'We got what we needed,' Daisy says, 'going out somewhere, sir?' 

'Can't a man wear a nice suit for himself every once in a while?' Sousa quips, and Daisy smiles. 

'A man can, but not Coulson. That suit looks new.' 

'You're the investigative reporter,' Coulson smiles at Daisy, 'you can figure it out.' He walks over to the elevator. 'You two better not be here when I come in tomorrow morning!' 

'No promises.' Daisy watches him get in the elevator, and waves as the door closes. 

She meets Sousa's eyes across the space between their desks. 

'May.'

They say it in unison, and Daisy grins as she watches Sousa smile to himself, going back to his work.   
She looks at him for a moment, then tosses down the papers in her hand. 

'Hey,' she says, and he looks back up, 'you hungry?'   


A brighter smile. 'Starving.' 

Twenty minutes and a phone call later, Sousa sets a box of Chinese food on her desk with a small thud, and walks back to his chair with his own. 

'Oh thank god. Thank you,' Daisy reaches for the food. 'I don't know why we didn't do this earlier.' 

'Beats me.' He takes a bite and raises his eyebrows. 'This is good.' 

'It's the best.' 

'You'll have to give me a list of the best restaurants here. Everything you recommend.' 

'Yeah?' Daisy tips her head. 'Planning on sticking around?' 

'Going apartment hunting tomorrow.' 

'Ooh. Apartment hunting, that's a -' Daisy digs her chopsticks into her food, 'that's a big move.' 

Sousa shrugs, nodding towards the papers on her desk. 'We don't really know how long this'll take. My lease back home was ending anyway.' 

'What about your friends, your family?' 

'Well, there's a handy thing called video call.' 

Daisy laughs shortly, 'I'm surprised you video call at all.'

He chuckles, and then after a moment, confesses sheepishly, 'Peggy set it up for me.' 

'Oh. Right, literal legend Peggy Carter..... did she really teach Captain America how to fight?' 

'She did.' His expression becomes fond, far away.

Daisy hesitates for a moment before she speaks again. 'Can I ask you a question?' 

He looks back at her. 'Of course. Anything.' 

She hopes he doesn't regret that. 'You and Peggy Carter, were you guys ever....' 

'Oh,' he shakes his head softly, 'not for very long.' 

'....What happened?' 

'...Couldn't stick around long enough to make it work. Besides, after Steve woke up....' He shakes his head. 

'I'm sorry.' 

He waves her apology away. 'It was a long time ago. We're good friends now, like we always were.' 

Daisy hums thoughtfully, turning her attention back to her food. 

'What about you?' 

'Have I dated Peggy Carter?' She jokes. 'No such luck.'

'Hah,' Sousa smiles, 'when you meet her, you'll feel that.'

He looks away, doesn't push on his question, but she hesitates a little. She wants to tell him, she realises. She wants him to know. This, at least, he should know, so he's not working as her - temporary - partner in the dark. 

'You remember what I said before, about how not everyone gets lucky enough to have Peggy Carter as a partner?' 

He looks back, attentively. 'I remember.' 

'I was talking about my old partner, from my early years on the job.' She says it as nonchalantly as she can. 'Grant Ward.'

'Wait, is that Hydra Grant Ward?' 

'Yep. We were... together, sort of. I -' she purses her lips '- he convinced me he was in love with me. Stole all my story ideas, used them to get Hydra on his side, launched his career into the stratosphere.' 

Sousa's voice is furious. 'If I ever -'

'Yeah,' Daisy mutters, 'get in line.'

'This is why -' he hesitates, 'is this why you know so much about Hydra?'

'Mostly, yeah. And some other things - I've just... noticed some inconsistencies.'

'Me too.' After a moment he speaks again, his voice soft. 'I'm sorry that happened to you.' 

The sincerity of the sentiment catches her off guard.

'Yeah,' she says, voice low. 'Me too.' 

For a moment, the only sounds are the city in the far background beyond the windows, and the buzzing of the lights above.   
It's a few minutes before Daisy pipes up again to change the subject. 

'What's the biggest story you've ever done? Like the one that took the most out of you?' 

'That's easy,' he says matter-of-factly, 'the Eastside Bomber story. Blew up my apartment. I'm still missing half my stuff.' He continues after a moment. '....Can't find my leg anywhere.' 

She laughs, a laugh surprised out of her, and he smiles, eyes crinkling with the force of it. 

'Well, now I have to hear that story.' 

'It's a long one.' 

'....We have time.'

* * *

Calm before the storm, you could say. 

Daisy and Sousa both spend the better part of the week investigating all of the Hydra reporters they saw in the bar. They both do fluff pieces to tide over the editors, so they can spend the rest of their time working on the big story. And it all boils down to - 

'Nothing.' She drops down in one of the chairs in Coulson's office, frustrated.

'On what?' 

'Anything! Financials came back clean. None of the people we saw at the bar have any connection to the offshore account that paid for the hit on Sousa. And they all have alibis, none of them were in, or near, the hotel at the time of the elevator drop.' 

'That only leaves the Malicks.' Coulson shakes his head. 'And I'm not convinced they'd be so direct. What about the Hydra reporter who got the elevator story?' 

Sousa shakes his head. 'Low level new guy. Not nearly enough of a salary to splurge on a hitman. He could be working for someone else.' 

'Right now, he's all we have. He has to know something. Sousa, you should stay on him. Johnson, I need you here to double down on those stories. Go through everything. All the details, all the people in that bar. Someone has to turn up.'

'Yes, sir.' 

Sousa leave the office, making a beeline for his desk. Daisy watches him gather up his coat. 

'You two seem to be getting along.' 

Daisy turns back to Coulson just as Sousa reaches the elevator. 'Don't.' 

He smiles, shrugs, and moves to sit down in his chair. 'Just an observation. Did you take another look at that laundromat?'

'It was nothing, just a drop point for the two hitmen. The owner was a childhood friend. Had no clue they were using it as a weapons stash.' 

'Hmm. Anything on the hotel cameras?' 

'We can't get them. The police haven't asked, and the hotel managers aren't budging.'

'I'll make some calls. Anything else?' 

'I feel like we're missing something. The hitmen aren't saying anything more other than it was some guy who ordered the hit.' 

'And you're sure it's someone from the news division of Hydra?' 

Daisy blinks. 'Who else could it be?' 

Coulson shrugs. 'Sousa seems convinced that the elevator was sabotaged by someone who wanted Hydra to get the exclusive.' 

'If...' Daisy gets to her feet, and paces a little. 'Say Hydra really has someone who engineered this accident... why this? Why just an elevator in a hotel? Unless...' Her eyes widen. 'Unless _this is isn't the only incident_ \- wait, I need to -'

Both of their phones begin to ring, just as Deke bursts through the office door. 

'I don't want to alarm anyone,' he says, 'but you have to see this.' 

Coulson rushes out of the office, and Daisy follows, picking up her phone as she does. 

'Hey, what's up?' 

'Daisy,' Jemma's voice crackles through, 'you have to look at the news channel right now.' 

'I'm going, what's -' 

Daisy, Coulson, Deke, and the rest of the office gather below one of the large tv screens on the side of the office. 

Daisy's hand, still holding her phone, falls to the side. 

_\- the police are chasing the vehicle towards the east side, we have helicopter visual and we we are just getting reports that the kidnapped individuals in the vehicle may be two employees of SHIELD, specifically managing editor Melinda May and former first correspondent for Captain America, Daniel Sousa -_

Daisy takes a step back, and another.   
'I have to go.' 

'Wait, where -' Deke turns to Coulson, 'do we, go after her?'

Coulson shakes his head, watching Daisy dash across the office. 'No. Let her go.'

* * *

The police are nearly about to lose the car when she catches up to it.

Quake stands in the middle of the road, and the car speeds towards her.   
Wheels screech against road. Someone screams nearby. Sirens wail in the distance as the police struggle to keep behind the car. 

The car comes toward her, a speck in the distance, then growing, and growing. 

Daisy takes a breath in, and holds out a hand.  
She exhales. 

Her blast is sudden, and so powerful, it reaches the car over fifty feet away.   
The back of the car lifts into the air. Its front crumples.  
For a moment, the car screeches towards her entirely on its front bumper.   
It stands like that for a millisecond. Just long enough for her to get around to the back, and catch it in a wave before it falls to the ground. She decreases the wave slowly, until the back wheels of the SUV lightly hit the road.  
The doors are thrown open, and a man with a gun stumbles out.   
He starts firing.   
Daisy's power blocks the bullets, and pushes them back in a burst of air. The man stumbles, and she takes the moment to knock the gun from his hand. 

'Did you do this to get to me?'

There's a furious flash across his expression, and she knows the answer is yes.   
He charges towards her, but she has him thrown back to the ground in seconds. 

'Try _any of that again_ ,' she says evenly, between gasps for breath, ' _I dare you_.' 

The back door opens behind her, and she spins. 'Hey,' she calls out, moving closer, 'hey, are you guys alright?' 

'I'm fine,' May says, getting out of the car. Daisy notes the picked handcuffs and torn duct tape beside her with raised eyebrows. 

'Looks like you had it handled.'

May shakes her head. 'We might have,' she pushes the door farther open, 'but we had a problem. It's not bad, but he's hurt.' 

Sousa looks at her from the other seat, breathing heavily, one hand over his stomach. A bloodstain spreads across his shirt. 

'Quake,' he says tiredly, 'my stitches - I shouldn't have...' 

Daisy quickly taps a button on her communicator. 

'Guys? I need your help.' 

* * *

'So, you guys are what, Quake's superhero backup team? And this place is your headquarters?' Sousa rubs the back of his head, sitting up on the hospital bed he'd used before. 

'Not quite,' Jemma smiles, 'this is the Lighthouse, and what we do is a mix of biochem, and -'

'- engineering, research. We built it together.' Fitz looks up. 'But... is it... safe to be telling him that?'

'He's already seen our faces.' Mack stands in the corner, arms folded. 'I don't know whose decision that was, but, it's been made.' He looks at Daisy thoughtfully. 

Daisy just looks back at Sousa. 'How're you feeling?' 

'Fine, I - you did a great job on the stitches with that machine of yours,' he nods towards Simmons, and she smiles, 'thank you.'

'You're welcome. I have to ask, just out of curiosity, if you don't mind, but your prosthetic is quite good, is that titanium?' 

'No I don't - yes...'

'Hey,' Mack walks up beside Daisy and draws her attention away from the conversation, 'can we talk for a minute?' 

She nods, and they walk put into the hallway. 

'I know what you're going to say.' 

'What?' 

'It's risky bringing him here, I should have told you guys beforehand, I need to make sure he doesn't make too many connections - don't worry, Mack, I'll make sure he doesn't figure it out.' 

'Yeah, that's right. You got it. I know you got it. I just wanted to check in.' 

'Yeah?' 

'Yeah,' Mack nods towards the open doorway, Fitz joining Jemma and Sousa's conversation with some expert knowledge. 'He seems nice.'

She shakes her head fondly. 'He's a dork.' 

'Daisy.' 

'Shhh.' She looks back to see if Sousa might've heard, but he's far enough. 'What?'

'This thing you're doing... knowing him as two different people,' Mack shakes his head, 'this isn't going to end well. what happens when -' 

'Excuse me, Dai - Quake,' Jemma cuts in, walking up, 'I think he's stitched up well enough, but I want to keep him here for a little while, for observation. You can go along home if you need to.' 

'Did he really agree to rest?' 

'He did.' 

'Sorry, give me a minute,' Daisy walks back into the room. 'Hey.' 

Sousa smiles at her as he lies back on the raised head of the bed. 'Hi.' 

'Fitzsimmons convinced you to stick around?' 

'I haven't really set up my apartment, and they're right about the rest,' he admits, 'I might have been able to help more if I hadn't been so weak from the bullet wounds.' 

'I don't know how much else you could've done.' 

'Something,' he says softly, and then changes the subject, 'besides, this way, I can tell them all the stories they want to hear about Peggy and Steve.' 

'I keep forgetting you reported on the super soldier serum project.' 

'I did. Right up till it ended. Wrote about it a lot after, too.' 

'Why didn't you take it on again when Steve Rogers woke up?'

He shrugs. 'Everything we did for the Isodyne story was getting all the attention, and Peggy and I both were going in a more investigative direction. And... it was past time for something new.' 

'I don't know.' She walks over to the side and perches on the table. 'You seem to attract the same amount of trouble. If not... more.' 

'And you always seem to show up at the perfect time. I owe you my life at least a few times over.' 

Daisy looks away. 'Yeah, I wouldn't be so sure.' 

He frowns at her. 'What do you mean?' 

'I'm pretty sure... they kidnapped you and May to get to me.' 

He's silent for a moment, before he nods. 'Yeah,' he admits, 'we heard them talking, they thought they could use us against you.' 

'Because of me.' 

'Because of my interview,' he corrects, 'this isn't on you.' 

'No, I let myself get connected to your paper - I shouldn't have.' 

'You were just trying to help.' 

She doesn't answer, turning around and picking up a small device instead. 'I should probably give you some way to get in contact with me.' 

'Do I get, like a Quakewatch or something?' 

She hides a smile. 'Funny.' 

'A Quakesignal.'

'Very smart,' she turns around, 'making fun of someone who can _literally_ turn you to dust.' 

He doesn't go silent, or laugh. Just a small smile, and, 'I know.' 

She stops for a moment, and then remembers what she was doing; she holds out the device. 

He takes it. 'What is it?'

'It connects to my belt, and an app on my phone,' she watches him turn it over, 'everyone here has one. You stick it somewhere you can reach it, and press it in case of an emergency.' 

'Thank you.' 

'You can't tell anyone about this.' 

'I won't.' 

Jemma comes back into the room, a box in her hands. 'D - Quake, you texted me earlier about your gloves, would you like me to take a look at them now?' 

'Yeah, if you're not busy. There's something off, I don't...' 

'Of course. I'll take a look in a second. Sousa, you really should be resting.' 

'Right.' He shifts back on the bed and lies down. 

Jemma puts the box aside, and Daisy goes to her. Jemma turns over her hands. 

'I can run a diagnostic if you're not sure what the problem is. Does it hurt?'

'No more than usual.' 

'That is a problem. Here.' 

Daisy slips them off and gives them to her, revealing her hands, bandaged with white. 

'Shouldn't take too long...' Jemma walks out of the room again, thoughtful. Daisy hears Fitz join her in the corridor, and smiles to herself, softly massaging her hands. 

She turns around, and Sousa looks at her sleepily from the hospital bed. 

She itches to take off her mask, but....   
Mack would probably tell her to do it. Fitz would probably tell her not to do it.   
She should do it. 

But a voice in the back of her head holds her back. 

It's the part of her that's been hiding this for so long, she doesn't know how to even start to explain all of this. Even Coulson, she - she should tell him. Mack always says she should tell him.   
But she knows that to Coulson, she's not unstoppable. Not defined by superpowers. She's just Daisy. 

And to Sousa - it's... really the same thing. She gets to be Quake, admired superhero, friend of circumstance, and no one has ever treated her so human as he does when she's just Quake to him.   
And she gets to be just Daisy Johnson. Ace reporter, (temporary) partner, working with him days and nights through, getting to see all of it - the passion for truth, the desire for justice - the things that she's never really seen someone be so sincere about before. And she can talk to him so freely, and she doesn't want to admit to Coulson that he's the best person she could've partnered up with on this. 

If she tells him the truth, she'll never be just Daisy again. 

She just doesn't...   
She doesn't want to give it all up. 

'Your gloves,' his voice rises from the side of the room, and her head snaps up, 'what do they....' 

She sighs. 'It's a long story.' 

'...We have time.' 

Daisy hesitates for a moment - but then she puts aside her keys.   
She reaches for a chair.

* * *

Sousa is already in the office when Daisy shows up the next morning.  
He looks up from his desk, and smiles brightly when he sees her.

'Hey,' she drops her things on her desk, 'you're here early.' 

'Back to work,' he says brightly, and bends over some papers. 

She knows for a fact he never went home - he'd spent the whole night resting at the Lighthouse, even after she left. Jemma had texted her two hours ago saying he'd gone straight to get ready for work, despite her insistence he take a day off. 

'Shouldn't you be...' she waves a hand, 'resting somewhere or something? May came back pretty quick yesterday, but she said you were in bad shape.'

'Is she okay?' 

'May? Always. Are you?' 

'I'm alright.'

Daisy shakes her head. 'Of course you are. A kidnapping attempt... just another day in the life, right? Nothing seems to faze you.'

'Trust me, it all fazes me.' He holds out a brown envelope. 'We have bigger things to worry about. You should see this.'

She takes it. 'What is it?' 

'I talked to the police who apprehended the kidnappers from yesterday. They found these at their hideout.' 

Daisy pulls out a stack of pictures. 'Holy...' She flips through them, one after another. Sousa going into the office. Out on the street, walking somewhere. Standing by the window of his new apartment, surrounded by cardboard boxes. There are even a few of her in between them, the two of them talking outside the building, at the food cart. A zoomed in picture of them at the police station. 'This is... terrifying.' 

'They're behind bars now,' Sousa says evenly, but his voice gives away his own uneasiness. 'Looks like they were planning the kidnapping for at least a week. ...And there's more.' 

'What is it?' 

'They weren't after me and May for us. We knew that, but they confessed to the police. The guy who called them told them to hold us hostage and send a public message to Quake. Hand yourself over or we'll shoot, that kind of thing.' 

She narrows her eyes. 'You found something.'

'The man who hired them for the kidnapping.' Sousa leans forward, resting his arms on the desk. 'Met them at the Swordfish, the very same bar -'

'That the guy who tried to kill you hired the hitmen.' Daisy stares at the pictures, dumbfounded. 'That doesn't make any sense! He hires someone to kill you, and when that doesn't work, he tries to use you to get to Quake instead? Would Hydra do that?'

'I don't know. It's possible that...'

'That what?' 

'That... Quake was the real target all along. They tried to kill me hoping she would show up, which she did, but she managed to get us both away safely. Then they tried to kidnap me and May, thinking they can get her to turn herself in, but they never get past the initial kidnapping because she catches the car.' 

'Well I...' Daisy drops the pictures. 'I don't understand anything anymore.'

'I might have someone who can give us some answers.' 

'Who?'

'Kidnappers described the guy who hired them. He... sounded a lot like Nathaniel Malick.'

' _Nathaniel Malick?_ ' Daisy blinks. 'Are you _sure?_ '

'No, but think about it - it fits. Someone from the bar - we never considered it could be Nathaniel, but why wouldn't it be?' 

'Yeah, but why _would_ it be? He's living his comfortable trust fund life. He doesn't even have to worry about the business, because his brother's the one everyone has their eye on.' 

'Hit a wall there.' Sousa leans back in his chair and tosses his pen to his desk. 'How Hydra is involved in wanting Quake down, I can't figure out. Can't put it all together.' 

'Put it all together... wait, wait, wait.' Daisy rounds her desk and shuffles through her drawers. 'Yesterday - just before you made the news on that police chase, I was talking to Coulson and we thought that maybe... this elevator thing isn't an isolated incident.' 

'I think they wanted to get the story first, so they made the story.' 

'Yeah, but one elevator falling, what's the most that could happen? I mean, Hydra scoops us on that story and sells a couple more issues? Seems a little small fry to try and kill a reporter for, don't you think?' 

He frowns. 'So ...you think they've done this before.' 

'I think they've been doing this for a while now. I mean this place was just about to shut down when you saved it -' 

'- Quake saved it -'

'- and I think that was the endgame. What's the one thing Hydra wants?' 

'...Publicity? More clicks, more subscribers?'

'Yeah, _and_ SHIELD Daily's head on a platter.' 

'So... they make a couple of stories happen. Maybe...' he waves a hand, 'murder a wealthy guy or cause a big accident, with their guy on the scene, and scoop us on the story. More people buy their paper, less people go for the Daily.' 

'It _fits_.'

'Okay, so it makes sense why they'd want to kill me...' he frowns '...but not why they'd do it the way that they did. There's something we're missing.' He shakes his head. 'I still think Nathaniel Malick is involved in this mess somehow. ...I'll stay on Malick. You should look through this theory. If you can find any other stories we got scooped on by them, that might not have been accidents, we could have an expose on our hands.' 

'Yeah, I -' Her phone buzzes, and she stares at the screen. 'I - uh - I'll go, do that.' 

She grabs her things again, and runs right out towards the elevator, passing Piper with a hurried wave. 

Piper frowns, looking at Sousa. 'Didn't she just come in?'

Sousa shrugs, going back to his work. 'It's Daisy.' 

* * *

Later that night, Sousa sits at the round dinner table in his new apartment, his notebook in one hand, a fork in the other, reviewing his notes for the day.  
He called every person he could think of who could tell him anything about Nathaniel Malick. All coming up empty. So he switches tactics. He tries to look for the connection that he told Daisy about earlier, instead. There's something here. He knows there is.  
He's about to scribble down a note to visit the bar again tomorrow, when he hears it.

A clatter. From his kitchen. 

He frowns, dropping his book. The curtains of the kitchen window flutter, and he gets to his feet. Slowly, he steps towards the kitchen. It's clearly empty, even in the half darkness. He exhales softly and closes the windows. 

Then - 

There's a shuffle behind him. 

Sousa turns around, and a man stands in front of him in the hallway.

Nathaniel Malick.

Sousa steps back. ' _How did you get in here?_ '

He just takes a single step towards Sousa. 'Don't worry,' he says, 'if i wanted you dead you would be.' 

Sousa grits his teeth. 'I wouldn't be so sure.' 

'No,' Malick hums. 'No, I suppose I shouldn't. No, I just...' He shrugs. 'I heard you were looking for me. So I decided, I wanted to tell you that I know something. Something incredibly valuable, that I'm sure you'd be interested in.' 

Sousa moves back a step, his back hitting the kitchen counter. He reaches behind him for a knife. 

'I don't want anything from you.' 

'Really? Not even....your lovely friend, Quake's real name?' 

His grip on the knife tightens. 'That's none of my business, and it's sure as hell none of yours.'

'No, no, no.' Malick just shakes his head slightly. 'You see I've known for a while, and this whole time, I've been wondering. How can I use this to get what I want from her? How can I use it... the most effectively? I mean, if i just tell her I know, what's stopping her from blasting me to bits, you know?' 

'You can do your thinking somewhere else. _Get out of my house_.' 

'I actually kind of like this place you have here,' Malick turns around, and Sousa stealthily slides the knife off the counter. 'Especially _that_.' He gestures to the far wall behind him. 

Sousa's storyboard is arranged against the wooden panelling - the only other thing in the room besides the moving cartons and bubble wrap.  
The storyboard is covered in newspaper clippings, redacted documents, the kidnappers' photos he got earlier; all of his stories in one place, separated into different areas by thin purple thread. 

Malick moves towards the storyboard. 'See, the thing about all this is that it's actually pretty ironic. Funny, too. No, you know what, it's freaking hilarious -' 

Malick turns just Sousa lunges him with the knife and catches his arm in the motion.  
The knife stops an inch from Malick's throat. 

' - That you could be so blind. But...' he looks down at the knife, 'you don't care for my gloating, do you? The only way you'll care is if I put this secret on you.' 

'You can't put anything on me.' 

'Sure I can,' Malick says with a smirk, 'because clearly killing you won't do anything, and kidnapping you isn't going to work, so. If you don't hand yourself over to me in one week - you have to see how nice I'm being, giving you one whole week to get your affairs in order - I will plaster Quake's real name across _every. Paper. In. The country.'_

__

__

'She's a hero. She'll take that risk.'

Malick nods. 'You're right. She probably would. But will _you_?' 

Sousa tries to push the knife back, towards Malick's throat, but he holds it firm.

'I mean, she's also a very real, regular person. She has a job to lose -' 

His grip tightens on Sousa's arm, pushing it back, as Sousa resists. 

'- Loved ones to endanger -' 

The knife slips to the side, his grip loosening with a grunt. Malick smirks. 

' - and a partner just colossally stupid enough not to realize -' 

He grabs the knife, twisting Sousa's shoulder, and spins around, stabbing it into the storyboard. A forceful, crunching hit. 

' - that they're the _same. Freaking. Person_.' 

The knife sticks out of one of the kidnappers' pictures.   


Sousa stumbles back, clutching his shoulder. 'No....' 

Right over Daisy Johnson's face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can come and yell at me over @olivcrqueenx on tumblr!
> 
> always looking for beta readers for upcoming chapters!


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